The present invention relates to an assist grip installed in a vehicle, especially to an assist grip that can rotate to switch between non-operational and operational positions.
An example of a conventional assist grip has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 09-156409, as shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b). In an assist grip 50, a main body 51 includes supporting members 52 assembled on both, sides. By means of the supporting members 52, the assist grip 50 can rotate to switch positions between a non-operational position retracted along an attachment portion inside a vehicle and an operational position projecting inside the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 10(b), each of the supporting members 52 is integrally formed of a recessed base portion 53, a through hole 54 provided at a back wall of the base portion 53, a protrusion 55 for temporary assembly, and a connection portion 56 provided under the base portion 53. The supporting members 52 are placed in recessed portions provided on both sides of the main unit 51, and are assembled to be rotatable through axes 57 (an urging device etc.)
Also, at the attaching portion of the vehicle (not shown), two temporary attaching holes corresponding to the protrusions 55 in each of the supporting members 52 and two screw holes (weld nut etc.) for engaging the screws 58 passing through screw holes 54 are installed beforehand. The protrusion 55 in each of the supporting members 52 is inserted into the temporary attaching hole to place the assist grip 50 in a specific position. Then, in a state that the grip 51 is switched to the operational position against the urging device, the assist grip 50 is attached with a predetermined strength by tightening the screw 58 to the screw hole 54. A reference numeral 59 indicates a hook for hooking a hanger and so on.
As described above, the assist grip 50 can rotate to switch between the non-operational position and the operational position, and is excellent in terms of safety and quality. However, the assist grip includes the following problems.
(1) In an operation of installing the grip inside the vehicle, for example, after a plurality of the assist grips 50 is fixed temporarily as being placed in specific positions, the grip is installed by tightening the screws 58 and so on. In the conventional structure, the pole-like protrusion 55 is inserted into the temporary attaching hole to fix temporarily. However, the protrusion 58 may easily come out from the temporary attaching hole when the grip is installed with the permanent attaching member such as the screw 58 etc., or when fixed by the screw 58, etc., even though an external diameter of the protrusion 55 is enlarged and pushed in the temporary attaching hole tightly.
To prevent this problem, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2001-277926 or No. 2001-180359, instead of the supporting member, the following structure has been proposed. The structure includes a female member (a base member or a grommet with a temporary attaching function) having a locking pawl that contracts in a process of inserting into the attaching hole provided at the vehicle attaching portion, and a male member (a pin member or a pin with a permanent attaching function) to be pushed in the female member to make the locking pawl unable to reduce the diameter. However, in this structure, a manufacturing cost may be high due to the complicated structure, and the assist grip is difficult to remove from the attaching portion in the compartment of the vehicle during maintenance or for recovery upon scrapping the vehicle, and so on.
(2) The supporting member 52 is placed in the recessed portion provided on both sides of the grip main body 51. When the grip main body 51 is switched from the non-operational position shown in FIG. 10(a) to the operational position (a front side), the base portion 53 is exposed widely, and the inside of the recessed portion and a head of the screw 58 become visible. Therefore, the appearance of the assist grip becomes bad in the operational position and gives an unpleasant feeling, or the credibility of the merchandise itself is deteriorated.
An object of the invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the first object is to provide an assist grip that is able to eliminate the problem of detaching easily in the temporarily assembled state, while maintaining an easy operation of temporarily installing to the attaching portion of the vehicle part, and also is easy to take off during the maintenance or the recovery upon scrapping the vehicle.
The second object is to provide an assist grip as stated above, wherein the assist grip maintains a good appearance without increasing the number of parts.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.